Day 20. Should I be afraid of the dark?

Day 20: Write a story that will make your reader afraid to turn off the lights at bedtime tonight . . .

Knuckles, my all black Pomeranian has been missing since the first night I moved into this apartment three months ago. That first night, Knuckles practically disappeared into thin air; there were no secret passages, no hidden holes or crevices, and no possible way for him to escape: the front door was locked, so too was the door to the balcony and even if he got out there, we were three floors up. All my efforts of searching the apartment were futile. How he vanished will always be an unsolved mystery to me.

And you would think that was the worst night of my life: moving into a new apartment and loosing my baby of seven years the first night. No, the worst was the second night: coming to terms that Knuckles . . . wasn’t coming back. I’m all alone in this dark and empty apartment. On top of all that, was the creaking and groaning and the occasional movement that came from the apartment. I’ve been awoken and kept awake every night since, and always between 2 and 3 am.

What causes it, you ask? I don’t know and my neighbours haven’t heard any such sounds, ever. The Realtor I bought the apartment from, wasn’t aware of any discrepancies with the previous tenants. Great, I thought. What can I do now?

One night, about 3 weeks ago, I was jolted out of my sleep at the usual 2 o clock. I sat upright and strained my eyes against the unnatural black around me. It was so dark, I could not distinguish anything in the room; I wondered if my eyes were even open. But across the room where my Grandfathers chair sat came a groan and I think I saw what seemed to be a shadow move in the darkness.

At that sight I hesitated to turn on the bedside lamp for fear of what I might actually see. I leaned back and flicked on the lamp. The window shutters were open, but I had closed them before I came to bed. I always closed them. Aside from the window shutters being open, nothing else was out of the ordinary. I got out of bed and closed the shutters a second time.

As I slid back in bed I curled up by the lamp and flicked it off waiting for the sounds. Nothing came. I sat up with my knees in my chest and waited until I fell asleep only to be jolted awake at 10 minutes to 3 am. This time I felt the bed move as if something or someone bumped into it. I flicked on the light and as always, there was nothing. Nothing out of place, other than my open shutters.